Study of the onset of autism through home movies

The authors describe the natural history and the beginning of pervasive dev elopmental disorders (PDD) by the observation of home movies. The sample is composed of 26 children aged 18 months to 5 or 6 years at the first consul tation. The methodology used in the observation of home movies includes: (7 ) application of the ERC-A-III scale for recognizing the precocious symptom s of autism; (2) analysis of the coming out and coming off of social, emoti onal and cognitive competences. The authors, starting from the analysis of these data, describe three kinds of onset and courses of PDD: progressive, regressive and fluctuating. The authors present some conclusive considerati ons on the different age of PDD onset in home movies, in anamnestic reconst ruction and in recall for diagnosis. Copyright (C) 1999 S. Karger AG, Basel .